AC MILAN v FC SALZBURG: OPPOSITION ANALYSIS

After the superb 4-0 win in Zagreb, AC Milan host FC Salzburg in this season's final Champions League group game to decide who goes through to the Round of 16. Third in the group and only one point behind the Rossoneri, FC Salzburg have only one result on their radar to give them a passage through to the next stages of the competition for the second year running, after being eliminated from the groups in the three editions prior to last year's.  

Despite the 2-1 home defeat by Chelsea on matchday five last time out, Matthias Jaissle's side have already shown to be tough opponents for the Rossoneri, after holding us to a 1-1 draw in the first game between the sides in this year's competition. Furthermore, the Austrians lead the Admiral Bundesliga with 33 points after 14 games, and haven't lost a game since their second one of the season against Sturm Graz, 2-0.

MODERN FOOTBALL FOR JAISSLE, PRESSING AND WINNING THE BALL BACK HIGH

In this season's Champions League, Matthias Jaissle's side have shown their predominant style of play is based on speed and the intensity to win the ball back high up in the opposition's half, in order to then break away quickly with fast exchanges against unprepared and out of shape defences. In fact, the Austrian side, along with Chelsea, are the team that has the most ball recoveries (351) and are third, behind Manchester City (59) and Barcelona (66), in winning possession back in offensive areas (57). Furthermore, they are second, only behind Barcelona (97), to have interrupted the most sequences of passes in the opponent's half in this year's competition.

AC Milan may be wise to focus on the passing inaccuracy of Jaissle's side, who in the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea registered only a 50% successful pass rate (115/230). Since the 2003/04 season, there has only been one worse statistic when Cluj, against Galatasaray, in October 2012 had only a 30.1% passing accuracy. What FC Salzburg may be lacking is some experience in managing such tough games in prestigious stadiums like San Siro, given they have the youngest starting line-up age average in this season's Champions League (22 years and 279 days).

KEEP AN EYE ON THEIR YOUNG STARS: OKAFOR AND ADAMU

The Rossoneri will need to watch out for FC Salzburg's most dangerous player, 22-year-old forward, Noah Okafor. He is their leading scorer in this season's Champions League, thanks to grabbing three out of the five goals scored by FC Salzburg. The young Swiss centre-forward, who came through the ranks at FC Basel, has already got six goals in twelve appearances in the Austrian Bundesliga, making him once again the top-scorer within Jaissle's squad.

Sharing the stage with him is Junior Adamu, the other bright star in FC Salzburg's ranks who is more than capable of causing Pioli's backline plenty of headaches. The 21-year-old forward, scorer of their only goal in the 2-1 loss to Chelsea last time out, has also hit the back of the net in previous editions of the competition, making him the second youngest player from the Austrian outfit with at least two goals in the modern edition of the Champions League, after a certain Karim Adeyemi.

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